In four points, John Scalzi walks us through what should have happened at Penn State when the first incident was discovered:
1. When, as an adult, you come come across another adult raping a small child, you should a) do everything in your power to rescue that child from the rapist, b) call the police the moment it is practicable.
2. If your adult son calls you to tell you that he just saw another adult raping a small child, but then left that small child with the rapist, and then asks you what he should do, you should a) tell him to get off the phone with you and call the police immediately, b) call the police yourself and make a report, c) at the appropriate time in the future ask your adult son why the fuck he did not try to save that kid.
3. If your underling comes to you to report that he saw another man, also your underling, raping a small child, but then left that small child with the rapist, you should a) call the police immediately, b) alert your own superiors, c) immediately suspend the alleged rapist underling from his job responsibilities pending a full investigation, d) at the appropriate time in the future ask that first underling why the fuck he did not try to save that kid.
4. When, as the officials of an organization, you are approached by an underling who tells you that one of his people saw another of his people raping a small child at the organization, in organization property, you should a) call the police immediately, b) immediately suspend the alleged rapist from his job responsibilities if the immediate supervisor has not already done so, c) when called to a grand jury to testify on the matter, avoid perjuring yourself. At no time should you decide that the best way to handle the situation is to simply tell the alleged rapist not to bring small children onto organization property anymore.
For “organization”, feel free to substitute “Catholic church” for “Penn State University” as required.
I have tried to read some on this and there seems to be a disagreement about what info the graduate student gave the coach (names escape me). My problem is that the media typically hang folks high regardless of looking for actual facts to report. I don’t want to judge the old coach because it is possible that the graduate student was too shy to actually tell him what he saw, but framed the statement such that it left some doubt in the guy’s mind. I mean, he trusted the retired assistant, thought he knew him, so if someone came to me with a fuzzy comment I may just pass on the words.
Comment by Dwayne — November 10, 2011 @ 22:53
Don’t misunderstand my first post, I agree that if I saw a grown man molesting a boy I am sure that at a minimum I would call the police and make my presence know to stop what was going on. I would not run away and tell someone else hoping that the other person would do something. It is not to be tolerated at all… my problem is that the stories I read don’t explicitly say that Paterno knew that the assistant was a child molester, and everything else becomes hearsay and conjecture. One man says that he told another man that he saw “something” – the problem is that someone is lying.
Comment by Dwayne — November 11, 2011 @ 00:17